Dutch obesity rate increases to 1 in 8

The number of people in the Netherlands who are overweight or obese increased significantly last year. Last year 43.8 percent of all Dutch people were overweight and 12.1 percent were obese, compared to 41.6 percent and 12.1 percent in 2013.

This is according to the latest figures by Statistics Netherlands. Statistics Netherlands classifies weight as follows: if you have a Body Mass Index, or BMI, of more than 30, you are obese, a BMI of over 25 means you are overweight.

Compared to 25 years ago, the increase in obesity in the Netherlands is quite significant. In 1991 30.5 percent of Dutch people were overweight and 5.1 percent were obese. Between 2011 and 2013 those percentages remained relatively stable at between 41.5 and 41.7 for overweight and between 9.8 and 10.2 percent for obesity.

Men are more likely to be overweight than women - 46.5 percent and 41.4 percent respectively - but women are more often obese - 14 percent of women are obese, compared to 10.4 percent of men.